A number of ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem City Council members have slammed Mayor Nir Barkat for authorizing a plan to split the city into differing zones of Shabbat enforcement, Army Radio reports.
The council announced Tuesday that businesses in secular neighborhoods in the city’s south and west will be largely spared any legal oversight during Shabbat, meaning that establishments in those areas could remain open for business on the day of rest without facing penalties or fines. Other stores, for example in the city center, would be compelled to close on Shabbat.
Signed by three prominent Haredi councilmen including deputy mayor Yosef Deutsch, the letter to Barkat accused the municipality of circumventing the city’s legislative body, the Member City Council.
“The place to determine policy is the plenary of the City Council and any other body that does this is using powers that don’t belong to it,” the letter chided.
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